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Ask a Teacher - Geography - Physical - A Question from Claire
Student Name
Claire
Question
Are there actually any physical differences between a loch and a lake, or is the difference just a matter of location/language (i.e. whether it's in Scotland or not)? And if such a body of water is classed as a loch solely because of location/language, then why is Lake Monteith referred to as a lake and not a loch?
Answer
There is no difference between a lake and a loch. We use the term loch in Scotland to refer to a similar feature which in England would be called a Lake. So the lakes in the Lake District were formed in the same way as the lochs in Scotland like Loch Ness i.e. submerged u-shaped valleys created by glaciers.
As in everything there are no absolutes there is always something that breaks the rule and as you point out there is a body of water in Scotland called the Lake of Monteith. And not the Loch of Monteith.
